Stretcher-operating table bridging panel



y 11, 1967 R. E. PORTER ETAL 3,329,978

STRETCHER-OPERATING TABLE BRIDGING PANEL Filed Feb. 26, 1965 Fig../

, Robert E Porter Fig. 4 Winifred Gales IN VENTORS Z6 36 30 VIII/IIIIIA BY 2 m .x\\\\\\\? 48 44 38 v W United States Patent 3,329,978 STRETCHER-OPERATING TABLE BRIDGING PANEL Robert E. Porter, 1734 Machado St., and Winifred Gates, 3030 Oceanside Blvd., both of Oceanside, Calif. 92054 Filed Feb. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 435,567 2 Claims. (Cl. -81) The present invention relates to a novel and useful article of manufacture, more particularly, a hospital-type patient supporting and transferring panel, that is, a special adaptation thereof which has been found to be highly helpful in aiding the movement of a prone patient from an operating table in a surgical theater to a rollable stretcher and then from the stretcher to the patients bed.

Briefly, the concept may be properly construed as portable means for use in conjunction with (1) an operating table in an operating room and (2) an assigned bed in the patients room and which is characterized, in a combination sense by a mobile stretcher (Gurney) and the readily applicable and removable means which makes it possible for two nurses, sometimes even one nurse to safely move and bodily transfer the patient from the bed or the operating table to the cot and vice versa, said means comprising a rigid manually applicable and removable panel which bridges the gap between the respectively usable surfaces, said panel having significant sur face portions resting simultaneously atop said surfaces, said panel being heavy enough to stay put when being used but not too heavy for one aver-age nurse to lift, carry and otherwise handle, and having a smooth top surface across which the patient can be safely and shifta-bly maneuvered with minimal effort for patient and nurse alike.

More specifically the invention features a panel made of sheet aluminum having planar or flat top and bottom surfaces with the top surface in particular smoothly finished and polished to reduce friction drag to an appreciable minimum, all surfaces of the panel being nonporous to facilitate cleansing and disinfecting for permissible repetitional use.

In carrying out a preferred embodiment of the invention the patient supporting and transferring panel is preferably, but not necessarily, rectangular in plan and has rounded corners to expedite safe handling and use. The panel is provided at its center with an elongated slot which provides a convenient hand hole or grip. It follows that the unique panel constitutes an adaptation which requires no maintenance, is feasible and easy to cleanse and sanitize, will not harm linens, is such that it can be easily stored under or within the limits of the frame structure of the stretcher and, having been hospital tested, has shown that it can be eflicaciously used by two nurses to aptly and satisfactorily move a heavy patient with a minimum of strain and pain so far as the patient is concerned.

In addition to the hand hole, which permits the nurse to maneuver and handle the panel, the underside is provided near one longitudinal edge with an elongated plastic, rubber, or equivalent anti-slipping strip which embeds itself and facilitates feasible and reliable use of the panel.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is an end view showing an operating table to the left and a mobile or wheeled conventional-type stretcher to the right thereof and with portions broken away and appearing in section and showing, what is more important, the readily applicable and removable patient supporting and transferring panel spanning or bridging the coplanar portion of the table and stretcher and in readiness for use;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the panel by itself;

FIGURE 3 is a view in perspective of the panel on a larger scale and observing the underneath side in order to show the anti-skid strip member; and

FIGURE 4 is a detail section on an enlarged scale taken on the plane of the section line 4-4 of FIGURE 2.

With reference now to FIG. 1 the numeral 6 designates, somewhat diagrammatically, of course, an operating table of a type which is often used in a hospital operating theater or room, the same characterized by a base 8 and standard 10 forming a pedestal and support for the table proper which is denoted at 12 and characterized by a suitable patient supporting member the top surface 16 of which may be cushioned or suitably padded. This surface is in a common plane with the surface 18 of the padded cot portion 20 of the mobile stretcher 22 when the latter is in use in the manner shown. Here again the details of the stretcher are omitted for clea'rness of illustration. It may be mentioned, however, that suitable supporting legs 24 function to support the top structure and are provided at lower ends with casters, wheels or the like 26 which makes the stretcher readily portable in a well known manner. The patient supporting, transferring and handling means may, broadly speaking, constitute an appropriate bridging panel. While plastic, wooden and other panels might well serve, it has been ascertained after trial and error experimentation that the panel in order to work satisfactorily, had to be not only strong and durable but comparatively heavy and yet not too heavy to be used by one or two nurses. By utilizing weight it will be seen that once the panel is in the bridging and suspending position shown in FIG. 1 it is amply heavy to stay put and to facilitate the step of sinking it slightly into the then depressed surfaces of the cushioned components 1-4 and 20. As a result of a studied analysis of all of the problems involved it has been ascertained that the best transfer board or equivalent member which can be used for mutually satisfactory results is a simple and economical sheet of aluminum (No. 6061-T6). This panel should preferably be some 30 inches long and 20 inches wide and approximately one-eighth of an inch thick. It is preferably rectangular and is denoted by the numeral 26 and has straight parallel longitudinal marginal edges 28 and 30 and transverse ends or edges 32 and 34. The top and bottom surfaces 36 and 38 are smooth and flat and the top surface is preferably highly polished to resist friction. It should be noted that in addition to the inherent or self-contained weight principle of assisting retention of the panel when in bridging position better results can be had by having the surface 40 of the edge 28 smooth so that it can be slipped and slid into place and having the other edge 30 provided with the aforementioned anti-skid strip means. The latter comprises a simple narrow strip 42 of plastic or equivalent material whose surface 44 is roughened, milled, knurled, or otherwise finished to assist in retaining the given depressed position shown in FIG. 1. The strip is commensurate in length with the length of the panel and has rounded ends 46 terminating inwardly of the ends of the panel. This strip is uniform in cross-sectional thickness or approximately so and is relatively narrow and has one longitudinal edge 48 spaced inwardly from and parallel to the panel edge 30. 'In addition the central or median portion of the panel is provided with an elongated slot 50 which may be approximately 4 inches long and about 1 /2 inches wide and which provides a hand hole and which may be also described as either a grip or a handhold. The latter provides a highly satisfactorily handling means.

' operating table onto the cushioned, padded or other equivalent cot portion of the stretcher 22 the relativelyv thin but rigid panel is positioned between the patient and the surface 16 of the operating table and can be slid into place under normal circumstances. The other edge portion is superimposed atop the surface 18 and the antiskid strip 14 is pressed down firmly into the position illustrated. With the space between the table 6 and stretcher 22 bridged it will be evident that the step of moving, shifting and transferring the patient from 6 to 22 will be safely expedited. The same is true when the patient is eventually transferred from the stretcher to the hospital bed in a seemingly evident manner.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modification and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shownvand described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

We claim: 1

1. Means for use in transferring a prone patient between two adjacent patient supporting surfaces disposed at about the same level that are relatively soft 'for cushioned support of the patient such as mobile stretcher on the one hand and a hospital bed or an operating table on the other hand, said means consisting of a single rigid panel of relatively hard material that is adapted to be removably placed in bridging relation across the spac'e between the adjacent surfaces with substantial areas at each side of said panel overlying and being seated on and supported by the edge areas of the associated surfaces, said panel being sufiiciently stifi to be non-bendable under the Weight of a patient but light enough to be 'portably handled by a nurse and having a smooth polished planar upper face which when the panel bridges said surfaces is disposed at about the level of laterally adjacent surface areas because of the tendency of the harder panel to become depressed into the softer patient support surfaces, said depression of the panel into said surfaces serving to resist lateral displacement of said panel relative to said surfaces, whereby a patient prone on one of said surfaces may be slidably transferred along said panel to the other of said surfaces with a minimum of lifting and a minimum of patient disturbance.

2. The means defined in'claim 1, wherein antifriction strip means is provided on the lower face of said panel engaging one of said surfaces, for preventing lateral shift of the panel during movement of the patient between said'surfaces.

References Cited V UNITED STATES PATENTs 2,418,606 4/1947 Smith 5-781 2,528,048 10/1950 Gilleland r 5--8l 2,733,452 2/1956 Tanney 5-81 

1. MEANS FOR USE IN TRANSFERRING A PRONE PATIENT BETWEEN TWO ADJACENT PATIENT SUPPORTING SURFACES DISPOSED AT ABOUT THE SAME LEVEL THAT ARE RELATIVELY SOFT FOR CUSHIONED SUPPORT OF THE PATIENT SUCH AS MOBILE STRETCHER ON THE ONE HAND AND A HOSPITAL BED OR AN OPERATING TABLE ON THE OTHER HAND, SAID MEANS CONSISTING OF A SINGLE RIGID PANEL OF RELATIVELY HARD MATERIAL THAT IS ADAPTED TO BE REMOVABLY PLACED IN BRIDGING RELATION ACROSS THE SPACE BETWEEN THE ADJACENT SURFACES WITH SUBSTANTIAL AREAS AT EACH SIDE OF SAID PANEL OVERLYING AND BEING SEATED ON AND SUPPORTED BY THE EDGE AREAS OF THE ASSOCIATED SURFACES, SAID PANEL BEING SUFFICIENTLY STIFF TO BE NON-BENDABLE UNDER THE WEIGHT OF A PATIENT BUT LIGHT ENOUGH TO BE PORTABLY HANDLE BY A NURSE AND HAVING A SMOOTH POLISHED PLANAR UPPER FACE WHICH WHEN THE PANEL BRIDGES SAID SURFACES IS DISPOSED AT ABOUT THE LEVEL OF LATERALLY ADJACENT SURFACE AREAS BECAUSE OF THE TENDENCY OF THE HARDER PANEL TO BECOME DEPRESSED INTO THE SOFTER PATIENT SUPPORT SURFACES, SAID DEPRESSION OF THE PANEL INTO SAID SURFACES SERVING TO RESIST LATERAL DISPLACEMENT OF SAID PANEL RELATIVE TO SAID SURFACES, WHEREBY A PATIENT PRONE ON ONE OF SAID SURFACES MAY BE SLIDABLY TRANSFERRED ALONG SAID PANEL TO THE OTHER OF SAID SURFACES WITH A MINIMUM OF LIFTING AND A MINIMUM OF PATIENT DISTURBANCE. 